13 Ways to Reward Your Kid without Candy

It’s extremely popular to use candy as a reward for good behavior. Dispensing candy takes almost no effort and kids naturally love it. But it turns out that candy rewards can be very problematic: more than half of children develop dental caries before the second grade. Studies show that a child’s preference for candy increases when it is used as a reward and coupled with positive adult interaction. And, it’s only natural that children frequently rewarded with candy will fall into the habit of rewarding themselves with food or candy later in life, a recipe for dietary and psychological disaster. With child obesity on the rise, it’s important to give kids every chance they can get for developing healthy habits early in life.

Stumped as to how to reward your kid without candy? Here are just a few ideas: